Officials face resistance in Sukhna Choe encroachments removal

Tribune News Service

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Zirakpur, August 14

The Zirakpur Municipal Council team, which visited Baltana to remove alleged encroachments along the Sukhna Choe, had to return empty-handed after facing stiff resistance from locals today. Officials of the civic body and the Drainage Department team had reached the spot to remove around 10 temporary tin shacks near the rivulet. Dera Bassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa and the MC officials visited the Baltana bridge on Monday to assess the extent of the damage after Sunday’s deluge. Randhawa had instructed the officials concerned to make arrangements for an unhindered flow of the rivulet there.

Today, when the MC team reached the spot, former SAD MC chief Kulwinder Singh Sohi resisted the move and claimed ownership of some portions of the land, after which the officials had to return.

Locals said the area residents had expressed opposition to raising tin sheds here, after which the drainage department vacated these but later re-occupied them.

Sunday’s downpour left the Baltana bridge damaged as the swollen Sukhna Choe made its way over it in full fury. The Drainage-cum-Mining and Geology Department failed to undertake de-silting and cleaning operations in the seasonal rivulet this year. The choe is known to cause destruction in Baltana every year. While the Chandigarh-side of the rivulet is cleaned regularly, the Punjab-side is littered and full of weed and silt. Illegal constructions and encroachments along the rivulet have only increased over the years, adding to the problem.